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Tackling modern slavery with transparency: GRI to support the reporting community

01 December 2017

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​Do you want to improve the way you report on modern slavery? Are you willing to support other companies as they begin to communicate on the issue? Join our work and engage in cutting-edge dialogue about the challenges and opportunities of transparency on modern slavery in consultation with diverse stakeholders, such as investors, media, human rights and legal experts and governments.

Modern slavery is a
term that captures a range of human rights issues, including forced labor,
bonded labor, human trafficking and child slavery. The exploitation of workers,
which often occurs in global value chains, is a pressing human rights issue
that continues to occur in the private sector. Over the past decade, modern
slavery has therefore become a key concern for many policymakers, civil
society, consumers, investors, businesses and other stakeholders.

This has prompted
governments worldwide to draft legislation, requiring companies to perform due
diligence in their supply chain to tackle modern slavery. The most well-known
example is the UK Modern Slavery Act, which requires companies domiciled or doing
business in the UK to report on the measures they take to prevent slavery or
human trafficking in their supply chains. Enacted in 2015, this followed the California Transparency in Supply Chains Act, which came into effect in 2012. A similar act
is now underway in Australia, and several other countries have introduced
supply chain due diligence bills in parliament, including France, the
Netherlands and Switzerland.

GRI’s effort to combat modern slavery through
transparency

GRI strongly supports
corporate transparency as a proven driver for businesses' ability to detect,
respect and remedy human rights abuses in value chains and to mitigate negative
economic, environmental and social impacts. GRI believes that increasing
corporate transparency through disclosure is key in tackling exploitation along
value chains, as reporting unveils information on the nature of modern slavery
practices and can therefore enable decisions towards its elimination while holding
companies accountable.

At GRI, we are
monitoring these developments closely and play an active role in the global
elimination of modern slavery. In the second phase of their partnership, GRI and Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) are working together to create more
transparency around pressing sustainability issues in global value chains,
including modern slavery.

GRI is also actively
involved in key policy discussions on modern slavery. Alyson Slater, GRI’s
Chief Network Engagement, is representing GRI as a Knowledge Partner in the Bali Process Government and Business
Forum, which was set up
to combat people smuggling, human trafficking and related transnational crimes,
and which has prioritized supply chain transparency as a way forward.

GRI upcoming work to enhance reporting on
modern slavery: get involved!

Despite existing reporting frameworks and regulations, reporting on modern slavery is still a struggle for companies. According to the CORE Coalition, only about 14% percent out of over 2,100 statements comply with the minimum requirements under the UK Modern Slavery Act. Companies are expressing concerns in the Australian consultation for a Modern Slavery Act about the reporting burden related to the emergence of different reporting requirements in different jurisdictions, yet affecting the same companies operating globally. Likewise, stakeholders are concerned about the reduced usefulness of data if it is not standardized and readily accessible.

To support companies reporting
on modern slavery and aspiring to meeting regulatory and stakeholders’
expectations, GRI is undertaking a new work stream that aims to provide solutions
that increase the effectiveness and utility of reported data to drive change. This
work will include an important stakeholder consultation, with the ultimate aim
of supporting harmonization across reporting requirements in the future. The
outcome of the process will provide points for consistency and comparability in
reporting and activate additional companies to engage in reporting on modern
slavery. An additional output will be
the necessary tools and resources companies need to make informed decisions
about modern slavery in their supply chains and improve transparency and regulatory
compliance.

Get involved with GRI

GRI is inviting
leading reporting companies to join a Corporate Leadership Group (CLG) on
Modern Slavery to engage in cutting edge dialogue about the challenges and
opportunities of transparency on this urgent sustainability issue in
consultation with diverse stakeholders such as investors, media, human rights
and legal experts and governments. The CLG will play a crucial role in
understanding how to apply existing tools and frameworks on Modern Slavery and
to identify best practices on challenging issues. If you are interested in
taking the lead in tackling Modern Slavery with transparency, email Simone
Warren at warren@globalreporting.org.

Contact

If you want to know
more about GRI’s work on modern slavery, please contact Juliette Gaussem,
Senior Manager Guidance & Practice: gaussem@globalreporting.org.